Sidewalk repair notices startle West Toledoans

West Toledo resident Zach Smith was among hundreds of property owners freshly notified that sidewalks near their homes or businesses need repair — at the owner’s expense.

“The real kicker is that I bought this house a year ago, and just before that, the previous owner replaced that part of the sidewalk,” Mr. Smith said Tuesday.

Amanda Mohr, a neighbor in the 2600 block of Letchworth Parkway, similarly said that two sidewalk panels identified in the notice she received had been replaced just two years ago after a city water crew repaired a pipe underneath it.

And in the nearby 3000 block of Sherbrooke Road, the sidewalk in front of one of three rental homes belonging to Sylvania Township resident Mark Tansey has five panels the city wants him to pay for, even though a tree next to those panels is in the city right-of-way.

According to the letters, initially sent by first-class mail and then duplicated by certified-mail distribution a few days later, those wishing to appeal the repair orders must attend a Feb. 13 meeting of the Board of Review and Assessments, starting at 10 a.m. in Toledo City Council Chambers at One Government Center.

“My only option is to take a day off from work and go to the meeting and show them a picture of my perfect sidewalk,” Mr. Smith protested.

But Christy Soncrant, the city’s commissioner of construction and engineering services, said the Board of Review meeting is really only for property owners who can’t get their issues resolved through a simple phone call to Engage Toledo at 419-936-2020, followed by a site visit.

And she acknowledged Wednesday that some of the sidewalks flagged for repair in the notices are based on slightly old information; the city inspections used to select repair locations were conducted in 2023, she said.

A two-year delay compared to how most city sidewalk repairs have been scheduled in the past is a quirk of officials’ decision to focus sidewalk funds elsewhere in 2024 and 2025, Ms. Soncrant said.

The city has no desire to rip out and replace a recently repaired sidewalk, she said, and the construction division is striving to respond to Engage Toledo calls within two days to set up appointment visits.

Sidewalk repairs are planned in each of Toledo’s city council districts, with the extent in each district varying with how much sidewalk it has.

Hefty bills for some

Some of the cost estimates in the repair notices sent out last week run into several thousand dollars. Property owners who do nothing are to be billed early next year, and if they do not pay within 30 days, the repair cost plus interest is to be added to their next 10 years of property-tax assessments.

The mailing estimates the cost to replace a typical 4-by-5-foot sidewalk panel four inches deep at $210. Wider or deeper sidewalks cost more.

Property owners can make their own repair arrangements. Ms. Soncrant said a list of city-approved contractors is available at toledo.oh.gov/​sidewalks, along with other information about the program.

The letters direct property owners who choose that option to notify the city of their intent through Engage Toledo by Feb. 27.

Ms. Soncrant said that if a property owner decides not to proceed after that, their location can be put back in the city contractor’s plan as long as work has not already been performed on that block and the city is notified.

Any self-arranged repairs that aren’t done by year’s end will be placed on the city schedule for 2027 and billed accordingly, the city notice states.

B&J Concrete & Construction on Secor Road is the low bidder at $3,211,096.50 for a city contract to do the sidewalk work. Ms. Soncrant said the contract is based on unit prices and won’t be presented to Toledo City Council for award until after any changes are ordered by the review board or by her office based on site reviews and self-repair promises.

Toledo has long used a complaint-driven process to identify sidewalks for repair, Ms. Soncrant said. But through 2023, she said, contractors hopscotched across Toledo addressing complaint locations, which drove up cost while leaving nearby failing sidewalk panels untouched.

The new process still uses complaints to identify where most of Toledo’s worst sidewalks are. But now, city employees who go out to check the complaint locations survey the entire block to identify other repairs that can be made while the crew is there.

Sidewalks near schools, parks, and street corners due for wheelchair-ramp replacement also have been inspected under the revised repair program, Ms. Soncrant said.

Initial notices were mailed last week to the owners of 1,484 properties selected on that basis. Second notices containing the same information were sent by certified mail this week, which Ms. Soncrant said the city legally must do even though it might seem to make the first mailing’s cost a waste.

Damage from trees

Sidewalk repairs caused by the roots of trees growing in the city right-of-way — generally the strip of land between the sidewalk and curb or street edge — are identified in those notices as city responsibility. The notices also specify that any needed tree removals will be covered by Toledo’s tree fund.

Ms. Soncrant said that applies even if the tree is on private property, although in that case the landowner will still have to pay for the resulting sidewalk repair.

Mr. Tansey questioned why, if the sidewalks at his properties are his responsibility, anyone other than himself has authority to decide when they need repair. But at the very least, he said, it would have been preferable for the city’s inspector to arrange a meeting with him to go over their condition rather than learn of a problem by a letter in the mail.

“It’s an arbitrary decision without my involvement,” Mr. Tansey argued after protesting “a lack of transparency and insufficient due diligence.”

Section 911.02 of the Toledo Municipal Code assigns to landowners the duty “to keep and maintain good and sufficient sidewalks along all public streets, avenues, boulevards or lanes adjoining thereto.” Section 911.34 further states that property owners “shall cause them [sidewalks] to be kept open, in repair and free from any nuisance, including but not limited to, snow and ice.”

Ms. Soncrant said it would have been impractical for the city to contact all property owners before the sidewalks’ initial assessment, but meeting with property owners is precisely what her division is offering to do for those who now make telephone complaints.

The city plans to conduct inspections for 2027 repairs starting in late spring, once the current year’s plan is in place.

Contact David Patch at

dpatch@theblade.com.